Political and Incorrect

The Real India, Warts and All

Tavleen Singh began writing her weekly column in The Indian Express in 1987. It was history as First draft, written not in hindsight but as events unfolded. The column captured the country’s mood every week. Debating the latest development with a reporter’s eye and a columnist’s insistence, Singh called out various political dispensations on their ill-conceived schemes and often too their scheming. Between 1987 and 2007, much as India changed, it also remained the same. The persistence of malnutrition, the systemic slackness in primary education, unsafe water and insufficient health care – Singh stayed with these matters even as they went out of fashion when liberalized, urbanizing India made rapid strides. In Political and Incorrect, Tavleen Singh brings the politician and the bureaucrat to the page with the same mix of wise, wry scrutiny as the terrible options they foist on India’s poorest people. The shambles of infrastructure are described with the same vigour as a raucous political rally. Through Singh’s clear lens, the aloof, arrogant leader is as familiar as the man next door, and the issues at stake accessible and clear. This expansive compendium captures neatly twenty years of India as they unfolded.

Tavleen Singh is the author of four books, Kashmir: A Tragedy of Errors; Lollipop Street: Why India Will Survive Her Politicians; Political and Incorrect: The Real India, Warts and All and Durbar. She writes four weekly political coloums- in English for the Indian Express and for syndication, and in HIndi for Amar Ujala and Jansatta.